Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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147. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection in relation to her Department's Estimates for 2008, if a sum of €3.75 million was accrued under provision of a review of community employment schemes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42581/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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In July 2008 the Labour Court recommended that an agreed pension scheme should be introduced for Community Employment (CE) scheme supervisors and assistant supervisors, and that such a scheme should be adequately funded by FÁS (LCR19293). It must also be noted that the employer in this situation is the sponsoring organisation and not FÁS (or the Department of Social Protection (DSP) which now has responsibility for CE).

The annual cost of introducing a defined contribution scheme for CE Supervisors was estimated at €3.75m in 2008 by FÁS. In line with good accrual accounting practice, a one-year provision for the pension claim was made in the FÁS accounts should the debt materialise. The system of accounting used in FÁS is the Accrual Accounting method which recognises potential economic events regardless of when the actual cash transaction occurs. This meant that the accrual of €3.75m in 2008 for CE supervisor pensions was simply a provision for an event that may occur (i.e. no actual cash was transacted). No subsequent provisions were made on transfer of responsibility for the CE programme to the DSP in October 2010. The Department works under the Cash Accounting method.